Blue Devils on their way back
By Dan Trutteschel
Sports Correspondent
A four-game losing streak to start 2012 put the Southern Lakes Blue Devils football team in a bit of a tough spot.
But don’t look now, the Blue Devils are on their way back.
For the third straight week, the Blue Devils got off to a fast start en route to a 32-19 win over visiting Elgin (Ill.) Saturday night. The win improved Southern Lakes to 4-3 overall.
The Blue Devils had one of their losses – to Antioch (Ill.) – from earlier this year changed to a win when Antioch was forced to forfeit all its victories.
It wasn’t tough to find a key to the win, Blue Devils’ coach Tom Hawkins said, as his team again was on the same page.
“The players have had a chance to get used to each other, get comfortable and trust each other, which is a huge part,” he said.
“They only get to be together for a couple months. … It’s not as easy as people might think. It’s professional. There’s a lot of Division 1, Arena, college and ex-NFL players out there. There’s a lot of talent on the field at any time.”
The Blue Devils put four scores on the board in the first two quarters to take early control.
Quarterback Gary Griffin connected on a 29-yard scoring pass to Ryan Oleson to put the Blue Devils out front. Griffin then hit Nate Moses with a 40-yard touchdown pass and added the two-point conversion to give his team a 14-0 lead after the opening quarter.
Griffin added his third scoring pass of the night in the second quarter, this time with a 37-yard strike to Marquese McDowell. Stuart Swanson added the extra-point kick.
The Blue Devils’ final points of the half came via a safety when an Elgin punt snap sailed out of the back of the end zone.
“We took advantage of what we knew that we could (early) and just did it as fast as we could,” Hawkins said.
As strong as the first half was, however, the second half began with a bit of a struggle.
And the Eagles had a lot to do with that.
Elgin cut the deficit to 23-7 with an offensive touchdown, and then pulled to within 10 points on an interception return for a score.
Southern Lakes running back Kyle Wilson gave his team a little breathing room with a 16-yard touchdown, but again Elgin came back with another score to pull back to within 10 points.
That was as close as the Eagles would come, however. Swanson ended the scoring with a 35-yard field goal.
“We just had to stay focused on what we’ve been doing the last few weeks (during Elgin’s rally),” Hawkins said. “When you put your guard down, you can get scored on at any time.”
Griffin finished the night with 17 completions for 264 yards. McDowell was the top receiver with three catches for 91 yards, and Roland Dunlap rushed six times for 63 yards.
As a team, the Blue Devils had 26 rushing attempts for 312 yards.
Huge challenge ahead
The Blue Devils hit the road this week to take on four-time Ironman Football League champion Madison Mustangs in a 6 p.m. game at Middleton High School.
Hawkins knows his team will have its hands full – but he’s also certain the recent string of solid play definitely gives the Blue Devils a fighting chance.
“We have to play perfect football,” he said. “If you have turnovers, they always capitalize. They’re a very good team. We just can’t have those this week going against that quality of a team. If we can play a perfect game, not turn the ball over, we can win.”
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